IRAN: Rescue Operation

Twice last week, U.S. Ambassador Loy Henderson
closeted himself with Iran's new Premier Fazlollah Zahedi for
discussions of "urgent matters," meaning dollars. Then he hurried back
to the big, red brick U.S. embassy in Teheran, where his staff, in
shirtsleeves, worked full speed. Messages winged between Teheran and
Washington, between Washington and London. The West's diplomats faced
an opportunity they had muffed once before. The challenge: to convert
Iran's wondrous reprieve into a sustained survival. The need: to
support Iran's economy until it can support itself.

Twenty-eight months of Mossadegh had left Iran a mendicant, left its
finances $544 million...